Profiles of dissociation symptoms in maltreated youth removed from home: A classification and regression tree analysis

ABSTRACTChild maltreatment is associated with an array of social, behavioral, neurobiological, and developmental problems that can last for many years. A key outcome of child maltreatment includes posttraumatic stress symptoms such as reexperiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal. Considerable research has focused on risk factors for posttraumatic symptoms in maltreated youth, but less so on possible protective factors such as resilience. This study examined several resilience variables (sense of mastery, sense of relatedness, emotional reactivity) in an ethnically diverse sample of maltreated adolescents with posttraumatic symptoms. Key aspects of resilience that predicted posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms included sense of mastery (for fewer symptoms) and emotional reactivity (for more symptoms). In particular, optimism, self-efficacy, and adaptability were inversely related to PTSD symptoms. In addition, emotional reactivity moderated a relationship between resilience resource scores and PTSD symptoms. The findings appeared to apply most to sexually maltreated youth. The results preliminarily demonstrate the importance of considering resilience-based variables during clinical processes for maltreated youth.

Posttraumatic symptoms among maltreated youth using classification and regression tree analysis

Emotional reactivity, trauma-related distress, and suicidal ideation among adolescent inpatient survivors of sexual abuse.

Resiliency predicts academic performance of Lebanese adolescents over demographic variables and hope

The current study aimed to investigate the influence of coping on the relationship between resilience and adolescent suicide ideation among secondary learners in the Free State Province, South Africa (n = 495; female = 61.6%; black = 55%, white = 27%, other = 18%; mean age = 13.99 years; SD = 0.83 years). The learners completed the Suicide Ideation Questionnaire (SIQ), the Revised Coping Schema Inventory (RCSI), and the Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents (RSCA). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict resilience-mediated suicide ideation from coping. Results suggested higher resilience scores on sense of mastery (SoM) and sense of relatedness (SoR) to predict lower suicide ideation risk among the teenagers. By contrast, higher scores on emotional reactivity (ER) predicted higher risk for suicide ideation. Religious coping (RC) moderated the relationship between resilience (sense of relatedness) and suicide ideation so that RC scores with SoM were associated with lower suicide ideation scores. Personal dispositions seem to explain risk for suicide ideation among adolescents.

1. Sense of relatedness and PTSD symptoms were inversely related among maltreated youth; 2. Trust, support, comfort, and tolerance most closely related inversely to PTSD symptoms, but especially tolerance for others; 3. Tolerance related to assertiveness was most closely related inversely to PTSD symptoms; 4. Findings help identify what aspects of resilience may help prevent PTSD symptoms in maltreated youth.

This purpose of this study was to explore the moderating influence of gender on the relationship between child maltreatment and internalizing symptoms (e.g., affective and somatic problems) and externalizing behavior (e.g., rule breaking behavior and aggression) among children aged 7–12 years old. Using a longitudinal comparison group design and a sample of 300 youth of which 56% (n = 168) had substantiated cases of child maltreatment, results of a structural equation modeling revealed that internalizing symptoms exerted a mediating influence that was conditioned by gender. Only girls’ internalizing symptoms were found to mediate the link between child maltreatment and externalizing behavior while a direct relationship between maltreatment and externalizing behavior was found among boys. These findings provide evidence for gender differences in the pathways between being child maltreatment and maladaptive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Thus, adapting evidence-based strategies that target gender specific internalizing behaviors and externalizing behaviors among maltreated youth may significantly reduce the risk of short and long-term maladaptive behavior.

Background: Although childhood maltreatment is associated with later self-harm, the mechanism through which it might lead to self-harm is not completely understood. The purpose of this study was to examine the roles of alexithymia, dissociation, internalizing and posttraumatic symptoms in the association between exposure to childhood maltreatment and subsequent self-harm. Methods: A total of 360 adolescents were asked to complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Dissociative Experience Scale, the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire-20, the Posttraumatic Stress Checklist for DSM-5, and the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory. Results: Results of structural equation modelling analysis revealed the significant mediation effects of alexithymia and dissociative symptoms in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and self-harm, while internalizing and posttraumatic symptoms did not significantly mediate. Conclusion: The findings indicate that alexithymia and dissociative symptoms may be proximal mechanisms linking maltreatment exposure and adolescence self-harm.

Maltreatment is associated with risk for a wide range of socio-emotional and behavioral problems in adolescence. Despite this risk, many maltreated youth adjust well through the process of resilience. Extant research demonstrates that future orientation is linked to reduced risks for maladjustment in adolescence. Few studies, however, have tested the protective and promotive role of future orientation using positive and negative developmental outcomes among maltreated youth. The present study aimed to investigate the promotive and moderating role of future orientation among a longitudinal sample of maltreated and demographically comparable non-maltreated youth (N = 1354, 51.5% female, 53.2% African American). Data collected from Time 1 (Mage = 4.56, SDage = 0.70) to Time 8 (Mage = 18.514, SDage = 0.615) were used. Compared to the non-maltreated youth, maltreated youth showed increased delinquent behaviors and reduced self-esteem. In addition, future orientation significantly predicted higher levels of social competence and attenuated the adverse effects of maltreatment on youth delinquency and substance use. The findings highlight the role of future orientation in the development of resilience among maltreated youth, bearing significant contributions to prevention and intervention programs designed to protect youth against risks linked to child maltreatment and promote their positive development.

Cortisol Response to Stress in Female Youths Exposed to Childhood Maltreatment: Results of the Youth Mood Project

Does subtype matter? Assessing the effects of maltreatment on functioning in preadolescent youth in out-of-home care

Resilience outcomes following significant adverse events are related to certain personal attributes, termed resiliency factors. This study aimed to adapt the Prince-Embury resiliency model, developed with children and adolescents, to adult populations. To that end, the Resiliency Questionnaire for Adults (RQA) was developed, consisting of nine characteristics organised around three factors: Sense of Mastery, Sense of Relatedness and Emotional Reactivity. The questionnaire adequacy was tested in adults from both general and health-distressed populations (N = 430) through reliability, confirmatory factor, cross-validation and multiple-group analyses. Criterion validity was assessed via path analysis with latent variables to predict resilience outcomes. The RQA scores were reliable and the three-factor model fitted the data well. The three resiliency factors predicted two-thirds of the variance in resilience. This questionnaire constitutes a reliable and valid assessment of personal factors underlyin...

Background/Aim. Resilience is related to the substance use in adolescence. However, little is known about the nature of this relation in adolescents with intellectual disability (ID). The aim of this research was to determine the relation among three domains of resilience (sense of mastery, sense of relatedness and emotional reactivity) and the substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana) in adolescents with ID. Methods. The sample consisted of 100 adolescents of both genders with mild ID and aged 13-20 years. The Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents were used to assess resilience. Results. In the adolescents with ID, resilience was significantly related to the use of cigarettes (?2 = 13.384; df = 3; p = 0.004), but not to the use of alcohol (?2 = 6.789; df =3; p > 0.05). Out of the three assessed domains of resilience, increased emotional reactivity was the only significant predictor of cigarette use. Conclusion. The obtained results suggest that emotional difficulties may increase the risk of cigarette use in adolescents with ID.

This chapter discusses the application of resiliency in school environments. We begin by briefly introducing the constructs of resilience/resiliency as internal and external mechanisms that allow an individual to recover from/overcome adversities. Resilience is described as a non-stigmatizing construct which includes social-emotional intelligence and which is well suited to use in a school environment. Next, the three-factor model of personal resiliency, developed by Prince-Embury, is presented as a working model to simplify the construct into three underlying developmental principles for applications in schools. The three-factor model describes core underlying developmental systems of personal resiliency as sense of mastery, sense of relatedness, and emotional reactivity. The Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents are then presented as a tool for preventive screening in schools that employ the three-factor model. A multitiered model for preventive screening is presented using the RSCA index scores of vulnerability and resource to identify students who are most at risk and drilling down to identify specific areas of relative strength and vulnerability. The second part of this chapter provides specific examples of applications of resiliency and related strength-based constructs in schools at different levels of intervention: school-wide/systemic, classroom, and individual.

Reports an error in "Neurobehavioral markers of resilience to depression amongst adolescents exposed to child abuse" by Meg J. Dennison, Margaret A. Sheridan, Daniel S. Busso, Jessica L. Jenness, Matthew Peverill, Maya L. Rosen and Katie A. McLaughlin (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2016[Nov], Vol 125[8], 1201-1212). In the article there was an error in the title. The word "Adolescents" was singular. The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2016-52992-014.) Childhood maltreatment is strongly associated with depression, which is characterized by reduced reactivity to reward. Identifying factors that mitigate risk for depression in maltreated children is important for understanding etiological links between maltreatment and depression as well as improving early intervention and prevention. We examine whether high reward reactivity at behavioral and neurobiological levels is a marker of resilience to depressive symptomology in adolescence following childhood maltreatment. A sample of 59 adolescents (21 with a history of maltreatment; Mean Age = 16.95 years, SD = 1.44) completed an fMRI task involving passive viewing of emotional stimuli. BOLD signal changes to positive relative to neutral images were extracted in basal ganglia regions of interest. Participants also completed a behavioral reward-processing task outside the scanner. Depression symptoms were assessed at the time of the MRI and again 2 years later. Greater reward reactivity across behavioral and neurobiological measures moderated the association of maltreatment with baseline depression. Specifically, faster reaction time (RT) to cues paired with monetary reward relative to those unpaired with reward and greater BOLD signal in the left pallidum was associated with lower depression symptoms in maltreated youth. Longitudinally, greater BOLD signal in the left putamen moderated change in depression scores over time, such that higher levels of reward response were associated with lower increases in depression over time among maltreated youths. Reactivity to monetary reward and positive social images, at both behavioral and neurobiological levels, is a potential marker of resilience to depression among adolescents exposed to maltreatment. These findings add to a growing body of work highlighting individual differences in reactivity to reward as a core neurodevelopmental mechanism in the etiology of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record